Dr. Arthur Lima de Avila: The De-democratization of the Past in Brazil and the U.S.
Guest Speaker: Dr. Arthur Lima de Avila
The NAU History department welcomed Brazilian historian Dr. Arthur Lima de Avila to speak with students and faculty about intellectual history and the challenging landscape that History professionals face in Brazil and the U.S. in the present. Dr. Arthur Lima de Avila is a Professor of History at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), a member of the Laboratory for the Study of the Political Uses of the Past (LUPPA), and currently completing a research visit at ASU.
Dr. Avila’s research project investigates the “historical imagination” of the contemporary right and its global networks, with Brazil and the U.S. as case studies. On November 20, the History department hosted Dr. Avila’s talk “The De-democratization of the Past in Brazil and the U.S.”. The event was open to the public and focused on the recent attacks against academic history in Brazil and the political uses of history by media companies such as Brasil Paralelo and Prager U.
Dr. Avila also visited Dr. Bauler Pereira’s class HIS 388 (United States Thought and Culture since 1865) for a conversation with students about his research methods and how to study the intellectual history of the Right in a global perspective. Dr. Avila’s visit and the student’s active participation in these activities reinforced the importance of addressing contemporary issues within the university, fostering free inquiry, ideological diversity, and civil discourse.
